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  ANNUAL, 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1922. 
  

  

  and 
  general 
  improvement 
  on 
  earlier 
  industrial 
  products; 
  surgery, 
  

   trepanning. 
  

  

  Improved 
  habitations 
  as 
  demonstrated 
  by 
  the 
  lake-dwellings 
  of 
  

   Switzerland 
  and 
  the 
  Terremare 
  settlements 
  of 
  Italy. 
  Megaliths: 
  

   Menhirs, 
  stone 
  circles, 
  etc. 
  Inhumation 
  in 
  dolmens, 
  chambered 
  bar- 
  

   rows, 
  and 
  cists, 
  with 
  votive 
  axes, 
  amulets, 
  and 
  food. 
  

  

  The 
  term 
  Neolithic 
  period 
  does 
  not 
  imply 
  a 
  culture 
  uniform 
  in 
  

   all 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  world. 
  In 
  some 
  regions 
  the 
  new 
  arts 
  developed 
  

   sooner 
  than 
  in 
  others. 
  The 
  progress 
  in 
  various 
  regions 
  and 
  among 
  

   different 
  peoples 
  toward 
  civilization 
  has 
  always 
  been 
  very 
  uneven. 
  

   The 
  culture 
  of 
  most, 
  if 
  not 
  all, 
  of 
  the 
  primitive 
  peoples 
  of 
  historic 
  

   times 
  falls 
  within 
  the 
  Neolithic 
  stage. 
  

  

  The 
  transition 
  from 
  the 
  Stone 
  Age 
  through 
  the 
  Bronze 
  Age 
  to 
  

   the 
  Iron 
  Age, 
  and 
  thus 
  to 
  what 
  has 
  been 
  termed 
  the 
  " 
  Middle 
  level 
  

   of 
  civilization 
  and 
  onwards," 
  is 
  formed 
  by 
  the 
  cultures 
  of 
  the 
  lake 
  

   dwellings 
  and 
  the 
  Terremare 
  settlements. 
  

  

  The 
  Lake 
  Dwellings. 
  

  

  The 
  term 
  is 
  applied 
  to 
  habitations 
  of 
  wattle 
  and 
  daub 
  raised, 
  for 
  

   greater 
  security, 
  upon 
  piles 
  within 
  the 
  margin 
  of 
  lakes 
  or 
  creeks 
  at 
  

   some 
  distance 
  from 
  the 
  shore. 
  The 
  existence 
  of 
  such 
  dwellings 
  was 
  

   first 
  noticed 
  during 
  the 
  exceptionally 
  dry 
  season 
  of 
  1853, 
  when 
  piles 
  

   were 
  exposed 
  on 
  the 
  shores 
  of 
  the 
  Lake 
  of 
  Zurich, 
  in 
  Switzerland, 
  

   and 
  soon 
  numerous 
  antiquities 
  were 
  brought 
  to 
  light. 
  Since 
  then 
  

   it 
  has 
  been 
  found 
  that 
  nearly 
  all 
  the 
  lakes 
  of 
  Switzerland 
  and 
  many 
  

   in 
  the 
  adjoining 
  countries 
  were 
  peopled 
  by 
  lake-dwelling 
  commu- 
  

   nities, 
  living 
  in 
  villages 
  constructed 
  on 
  platforms 
  supported 
  by 
  

   piles 
  at 
  varying 
  distances 
  from 
  the 
  shores. 
  Fifty 
  such 
  settlements 
  

   have 
  been 
  enumerated 
  in 
  Lake 
  Neuchatel, 
  32 
  in 
  Constance, 
  20 
  in 
  

   Bienne, 
  and 
  24 
  in 
  Geneva, 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  settlements 
  occupied 
  an 
  

   area 
  1,200 
  by 
  150 
  feet. 
  The 
  settlement 
  of 
  Pfaffikon 
  covered 
  3 
  acres 
  

   and 
  is 
  estimated 
  to 
  have 
  contained 
  100,000 
  piles. 
  A 
  settlement 
  in 
  

   Lake 
  Bienne 
  extended 
  over 
  6 
  acres 
  and 
  was 
  connected 
  with 
  the 
  

   shore 
  by 
  a 
  gangwa}' 
  nearly 
  100 
  yards 
  long 
  by 
  40 
  feet 
  wide. 
  Often 
  

   the 
  settlements 
  were 
  accessible 
  only 
  by 
  canoes. 
  The 
  huts 
  raised 
  

   upon 
  the 
  platforms 
  were 
  quadrilateral, 
  measuring 
  from 
  20 
  by 
  12 
  

   feet 
  to 
  about 
  27 
  by 
  22 
  feet. 
  The 
  walls 
  were 
  constructed 
  of 
  wattle 
  

   coated 
  with 
  clay; 
  the 
  roofs 
  were 
  thatched 
  with 
  bark, 
  straw, 
  reed, 
  

   or 
  rushes; 
  the 
  floors 
  were 
  formed 
  of 
  clay 
  well 
  trodden 
  down; 
  the 
  

   hearths 
  consisted 
  of 
  stone 
  slabs. 
  The 
  antiquities 
  found 
  on 
  the 
  vari- 
  

   ous 
  sites 
  show 
  that 
  this 
  manner 
  of 
  life 
  continued 
  from 
  Neolithic 
  

   times 
  through 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  the 
  Bronze 
  period 
  into 
  the 
  earlier 
  

   Iron 
  Age. 
  

  

  